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Everything You Need to Know About the Facebook Branded Content Tool for Influencers (Updated Nov 2017)

April 14, 2017 by The Motherhood

Disclaimer: Information below represents our findings to date. We will continue to update this post as we learn more about the Facebook Branded Content Tool for Influencers.

In April 2016, Facebook announced the release of a new tool for branded content on verified pages to create easier collaboration on sponsored posts between Pages and brands.

The initial reaction to the announcement was mostly confusion about what exactly these new guidelines meant for brands and bloggers. This was especially the case for social media influencer marketing agencies, including The Motherhood, since we work with a network of “micro influencers” who promote sponsored content on their Facebook pages frequently.

According to Markerly, marketers are seeing higher engagement results with “micro influencers,” meaning those smaller-in-reach pages produce high value for brands through their devoted and active Facebook audience.

Before we answer what this tool means for marketers running influencer campaigns, let’s back up:

What is the Facebook branded content tool?

It’s a tool integrated into Facebook that allows pages and profiles to mark content that includes a third party, brand, or sponsor.

Branded content can be a post, Instant Article, link, photo, or video. Through the branded content tool, publishers of these posts tag the marketer or sponsor’s page. The marketer who is tagged will get a notification and receive access to insights on that post (such as the number of people who have seen it, click-throughs, etc.). The brand tagged will also have the ability to boost the post through their own account.

Facebook wants sponsored content to be marked clearly, therefore updating the branded tool to include the word “Paid” in the post.

Do all influencers have to use the Facebook Branded Content Tool?

When the Branded Content Tool originally was launched in April 2016, Facebook only allowed verified pages (and then later, verified profiles) to access the branded content tool. However, Facebook recently announced that they are making the tool more widely available and offering it to non-verified pages, as well.

Starting in April 2017, for users on iOS and the web (and Android in the near future), any non-verified page can submit an application to access to the branded content tool. Facebook will begin to offer the tool on a rolling basis to non-verified pages that it predicts are most likely to use it. Pages will get a notification in Facebook if they are selected for the branded content tool.

We recommend that influencers apply for the Branded Content Tool. Once you are approved for tool (it usually only takes up to two days), you can easily mark which posts are sponsored by clicking the handshake icon when composing a new post. If you have any questions about using the Branded Content Tool within your current campaign with The Motherhood, feel free to reach out to your account manager to discuss.

Do I need to include a disclosure statement if I’m using the Branded Content Tool?

This one has caused some confusion among influencers and agencies. The short answer is yes, you still need to include a proper disclosure statement (“ad” or “sponsored”) for sponsored posts, even when using the handshake tool. Facebook has clearly defined the rules for branded content, which includes using disclosures in addition to the handshake tool:

“Comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including by ensuring that you provide all necessary disclosures to people using Facebook or Instagram, such as any disclosures needed to indicate the commercial nature of content posted by you.” (Facebook, August 2017)

Best practices for the Facebook Branded Content Tool for influencers moving forward:

If you have not already, request access to the Branded Content Tool here.
If a post is flagged as not complying with their branded content policies, Facebook will notify the publisher and the post will not appear in the News Feed until fixed.
If you are a brand or company reaching out to influencers to share branded content on their Facebook pages, we highly suggest consulting a marketing agency that has knowledge on the subject and is up-to-date on all policies. You can contact The Motherhood with inquiries at contact@themotherhood.com.

In our research since publishing this post, we have come across interesting articles on the topic that we would also like to share with you:

We are still following the news on the Facebook Branded Content Tool for Influencers, and we will be sure to keep our readers updated as the situation evolves — which, as many social media marketers know, is bound to happen! We welcome any feedback.

Updated: November 1, 2017

Super Cute Crispy Treats: New Cookbook Sneak Peek

July 28, 2015 by The Motherhood

We have a guest post on the blog today, authored by Ashley Whipple over at Cute As A Fox. We’re so excited for her recent success in publishing a wonderful cookbook – congratulations and take it away, Ashley!

I am so thrilled to be posting on The Motherhood blog. The Motherhood is the very first blogger network I joined back in 2011. In fact, it was The Motherhood that helped ignite my love for food art, which set me on the path to publishing my first cookbook, Super Cute Crispy Treats. The book releases today, 7/28/15, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than by sharing here on The Motherhood blog.

As a mother and a food, craft, and party blogger, the amount of pressure I put on myself to throw the perfect birthday party can be intense. Frankly, it’s also excessive. I know that when my Type A takes over, I get stressed and sometimes the true purpose of the party is lost. Shouldn’t it be about celebrating and making lasting family memories? I have found the best way to tame the perfectionist mom-beast is to get the kids involved in all aspects of the party. Today I want to share my top 3 tips for planning a party with the kids, and not for the kids.

Theme: Let them pick the theme. Give the kids some ownership right from the get-go. I think you’ll be surprised by how many fun details you can imagine for almost any theme. I once heard of someone throwing a Green Bay Packers My Little Pony party for their little girl. It was what she wanted and they made it work. Whether or not you let them have full control or rein it in a little is up to you. Half the fun is in planning the details.
Decorations: Let the kids make the decorations. It may not end up looking like it came out of a magazine, but your kids are going to be so excited to show off the streamers they hung or the wall decorations they made. It’s also a great way to spend time together and make memories while you are making the decorations. You don’t have to leave all the decorations to the kids, either. Put them in charge of one area and you can take care of the rest.
Food: I’m starting to feel like a broken record, but let the kids help with the food too. The food is my favorite part of a party. I am not a cake decorator, though. That’s one of the many reasons I wrote Super Cute Crispy Treats. It’s full of great treats ideas that would be perfect to make with the kids.

Let me show you what I mean. I’m sharing with you one of the 100 recipes in Super Cute Crispy Treats, Birthday Hat Treats. These are great for the kids to help make and they can definitely decorate them. These treats are so easy to customize to any party theme, just change up the treat colors and the decorations.

Birthday Hat Treats

Excerpted from Super Cute Crispy Treats by Ashley Whipple

Yield: 20 to 24 treats

Time: 1 hour
Difficulty level: Intermediate

3 tbsp margarine
1 10-ounce (280 g) bag mini marshmallows
6 cups (150 g) crisp rice cereal
8 ounces (225 g) white almond bark or candy melts
Sanding sugar, optional
24 Sixlets or gumballs
Jumbo quins

1 Melt margarine over low heat in a 5-quart or larger saucepan. Add marshmallows, and stir. Let marshmallows melt completely, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Pour in crisp rice cereal and stir until completely incorporated.

2 Coat your hands and a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Take some cereal mixture and form a cone shape approximately 2 inches (5 cm) high. Repeat until all of mixture has been used. Let cones cool completely.

3 Using a microwave-safe dish, heat almond bark in microwave in 30-second increments until completely melted, stirring between each heating. (I recommend using High power level for first heating and switching to 50 percent power for subsequent heatings.) Dip the bottom of a birthday hat in almond bark and gently shake off any excess. Immediately dip bottom of hat into sanding sugar (if using) to create a colorful rim. Place on a greased baking sheet until set. Repeat for all hats.

4 Press a candy ball on the top of each hat, using melted almond bark to adhere ball to treat. Add polka dots to hats by affixing jumbo quins with almond bark. Let almond bark harden. Store in an airtight container on countertop and serve within 24 hours.

The Birthday Hat Treats are just one of 100 no-bake crispy treats that can be found in Super Cute Crispy Treats. Today’s the big launch day so you can head over and order your copy now. Thanks so much to The Motherhood for having me on the blog today!

Ashley Fox Whipple is the creator of the blog Cute As a Fox. Her recipe and craft creations have been featured on Parade, Rice Krispies Facebook page, Michaels.com, Food Gawker, Craft Gawker, Tastespotting, Edible Crafts on Craft Gossip, as well as many blogs.

Ashley lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and two children. You can find her standing under the nearest air conditioning vent sipping a Diet Coke.

TM Book Club: “Design Mom” Shows You Can Do Functional Without Sacrificing Style

June 3, 2015 by The Motherhood

“Design doesn’t have to disappear when you have kids. You can have a beautiful home that works for both kids and adults. It’s totally possible…” – Gabrielle Stanley Blair, founder of DesignMom.com and author of Design Mom – How to Live with Kids: A Room by Room Guide.

Photography by Seth Smoot, styling by Kendra Smoot for Design Mom.

This may sound like a tall order: a stylish home that’s also functional for both small and big kids. But Blair’s new book shows us that it really is achievable. From the entryway and living room to the kitchen and bathroom, Blair offers tips and inspiration for making every space in the house appealing and usable for both adults and children.

The best part? It doesn’t have to cost a fortune and you don’t have to hire a professional. You simply have to visualize your rooms with their purpose in mind, and make the best use of your space while keeping the kids’ needs in mind. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific room in the house and offers tips on how to make the best use of those spaces. Some of our favorite tips from room to room include:

Shoe Storage is Your Best Friend: Employ lockers, a simple basket, wooden cubbies or just line shoes up in a row. Having a plan for shoes right inside the door is a must to avoid the feeling of clutter.
Think Outside the Toilet Paper Dispenser: Bathroom floor plans aren’t always ideal, and mounting a wall dispenser often doesn’t work for small kids who need to reach it. Bypass the traditional dispenser altogether and look for alternatives such as baskets or vertical stackers.
Storing Artwork and Homework: Have a folder in a file cabinet for each year of each child’s life until they’re adults, plus a “treasure box” that can hold some of their “3-D” objects that you can’t bear to part with.
Your Walls Should Tell Your Family’s Story: Think outside the box and beyond simple photos. Consider different types of wall art, such as your children’s art, memorabilia, maps and quotes.
Furniture that Moves as Quickly as Your Kids: When designing a family room or selecting furniture, consider the roles your family room might have as your kids get older. Opt for a coffee table with wheels that you could move to the side for game night, or a table with legs that can be folded up and moved out of the way during fort building!

You can order Design Mom via Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Books A Million.

The Motherhood was provided with a copy of “Design Mom” for review. All opinions expressed are our own.

TM Book Club: Aloha Also Means Goodbye is a Fun Read

May 20, 2015 by The Motherhood

With summer just around the corner, we are turning our attention to fun beach reads with a brief review of Aloha Also Means Goodbye, a fictional romance written by Jessica Rosenberg of It’s My Life.

The central plot of Aloha Also Means Goodbye revolves around a love triangle: Jo, who’s in Hawaii to marry one man (Jordan), finds out her former love (Andy) is staying at the same resort. Jo was carrying a great deal of baggage from her relationship with Andy when she met Jordan five years ago, and running into Andy for the first time since he left her packs an emotional punch and sets up a dramatic storyline. Will Jo marry Jordan or reunite with Andy?

Contributing to the action are a colorful group of secondary characters: Jo’s two best friends Sadie and Roxie, her mother, a disinterested wedding planner, Andy’s two small children, his ex-wife and an attractive hotel employee named Kona, among others.

Aloha Also Means Goodbye delivers plenty of action – each character seems to have his or her own set of secrets and love interests that emerge as the story unfolds. If you can suspend reality for a few hours and prefer neatly wrapped, blissfully happy endings, this is an ideal book for you, particularly for a plane ride or an afternoon at the beach. The plot will grab you and pull you through quickly.

TM Book Club: “The Beauty of Grace” Inspires

March 23, 2015 by The Motherhood

No matter who you are or what your situation, every one of us has moments when we need to hear, “You are loved,” “There is a plan,” and most of all, “You are enough.”

“The Beauty of Grace,” written by a longtime friend of The Motherhood, Dawn Camp, is an amazing reminder of these very things and so much more. With a compilation of stories that speak to purpose, perspective, surrendering and worship, this book is like a modern day devotional, made up of honest stories from everyday men and women.

Dawn’s photography pairs beautifully with the inspirational stories she’s compiled. For example:

Arianne Segerman candidly speaks to a feeling many of us struggle with — inadequacy. From Pinterest-perfect homes to Facebook-induced feelings of competition, she reminds us that for each of us there is a different plan. Instead of trying to keep up, work to refine your edges, those very edges that allow you to forget how truly blessed you are. And most importantly, remember your blessings don’t have to look like others’.

Shannon Lowe shares her Sunday morning with us, and her strategy for getting through the week — from a heartbroken kid or the mess in the bedroom to a friend struggling with divorce or the dog that throws up on the carpet — she anchors herself in His grace because she knows “…in Him all things hold together.”

Rachel Anne Ridge reminds us that when we’ve come to a personal “stop sign” on our path, it’s just that — a moment to pause and assess what’s ahead. It doesn’t mean you stop and stay, or turn around or quit. Rather, stop long enough to “gather wisdom, get the lay of the land, look around and move forward slowly.” The road ahead may present you with unexpected curves, but that’s why stopping to assess your situation can help you to stay on track throughout your journey.

Beauty of Grace Book Review — Photo Credit: http://myhomesweethomeonline.net/

Positioned as an invitation to “slow down, take a deep breath and know that you are loved,” this book will inspire, enlighten and comfort anyone who picks it up.

The Motherhood was provided with a copy of “The Beauty of Grace” for review. All opinions expressed are our own.

Best Children’s Books: The Motherhood’s Picks

March 2, 2015 by The Motherhood

Today is Read Across America Day (also known as Dr. Seuss Day), and there’s no better way to celebrate than by sitting down with your kids to crack open a new book – or by perusing an old favorite together.

Giving-the-Gift-of-Books — Image created by Angela of About a Mom on behalf of the Fuel for School campaign with Champions for Kids.

Over the years, The Motherhood team has worked with a number of clients on campaigns that encourage reading, including one for the kid-friendly VTech V.Reader and – most recently – a charitable initiative called “Fuel for School” with Champions for Kids to facilitate local book drives for children in need.

We all love a good book, and we know that often, an appreciation for reading develops during childhood, when kids find their favorite stories.

To inspire ideas for your family, The Motherhood has compiled a list of our personal must-haves for any child’s bookshelf. Feel free to share your own in the comments!

1. Stone Soup, by Marcia Brown (Favorite of Brittnee Hammonds)

Winner of a Caldecott Medal, Stone Soup is a folk story that tells the tale of how cooperation can lead to bigger and better things (in this case, a big pot of tasty soup), as a group of travelers bring together the entire town to put together a pot of soup, one ingredient at a time. The beauty of it? It all starts with just water and a stone, hence, “Stone Soup.” It’s one of my favorites because it’s a story I read with my dad over and over again, and we’ve actually made “stone soup” a time or two because of the story.

2. The Day the Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt (Suggested by Erin Olson)

While it’s not an old classic, The Day the Crayons Quit is a funny, creative story that parents and kids alike will enjoy reading together. I read it as an adult when I visited a kids’ bookstore with my best friend – she sought it out, pulled it off the shelf and told me it was one of her nephew’s favorites (and one of her favorites to read to him). After just a few pages, I could see why.

3. Pat the Bunny, by Dorothy Kunhardt (Favorite of Brittney Coburn’s family)

I love Pat the Bunny! We started reading to our daughter when she was a newborn, and I couldn’t wait to introduce her to one of my favorites. She’s becoming so curious and interactive and loves to feel the fuzzy fabric, play peek-a-boo and smell the flowers. As a child, I often snuck in some extra reading time with a flashlight after bedtime, and I hope to nurture that same love of books for her!

4. Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein (Favorite of Serena Mounts)

I was a big bookworm as a kid, and I remember being so intrigued by the format of this book when I first read it: a series of short (but complete!) stories and poems. It was so different than anything I’d read before, and I never, ever grew tired of reading it. The poems were diverse, silly, imaginative and witty and I loved the simple but bold black-and-white drawings that accompanied some of them. I haven’t read through it since I was a child, but I’d love to introduce it to my niece and nephew who are just around the age I was when I first read it.

5. Tacky the Penguin, by Helen Lester (Favorite of Sarah O’Rourke)

I loved this book because it’s so fun, lighthearted and always made me laugh, but it also taught me an important life lesson – it’s okay to be different and unique, and you should always accept others for who they are!

6. Meet Kirsten! and other American Girl books (Favorites of Nicole Paladin)

My favorite books to read growing up were from the American Girl book series! I collected as many of the Girls’ series as I could, and I even saved up my own money (which was a lot for an eight-year-old) to buy the Kirsten doll and accessories. Every American Girl book series started with a book titled, “Meet [doll’s name]“, and I was so inspired by them, I even wrote by own “book” about my life and titled it “Meet Nicole!”

7. 10 Minutes Till Bedtime (Favorite of Cooper Munroe’s family)

A child, along with pet hamsters (and the pet hamsters’ many hamster friends) have an epic adventure tour of the house after the “10 minute warning” countdown to bedtime. There are many hidden, fun hamster antics to discover in the illustrations, and reading the book always got my kids giggling. There’s even a website for the Hamster Tour.

8. Love You Forever, by Robert Munsch (Favorite of Kayla Geahry)

It’s an incredibly sweet book that my mom used to read me all the time, illustrating the amazing bond between a mother and her child. It tugs on the heartstrings whether you’re the kid or the parent.

9. On the Day You Were Born, by Debra Frasier (Favorite of Emily McKhann’s family)

A dear friend gave me this book on the day my first child was born. After nursing my new baby in the hospital, I read On The Day You Were Born aloud to her, and when I reached the last page with the words, “And as they held you close and whispered in your open, curving ear, ‘We’re so glad you’ve come!,'” I burst into tears. It was just so beautiful. My girls now know all the words and love it too, and to this day, Debra Frasier’s poetry takes my breath away.

Finally, of course, no child’s bookshelf is complete without a few of the many whimsical and wonderful stories by Dr. Seuss himself. Check out classics such as Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat or One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

Happy reading!